Why watch when you can play

Isn’t air-travel a lot simpler now that we don’t have to deal with travel agents? Or getting a ride more hassle-free? The likes of Make My Trip, Uber etc have not just changed the game, they have brought more connections, context and relevance through new experiences, turning us into always-on connected consumers!

A similar, less obvious, disruption is underway in sports, and now sports marketing. Any popular sport commands the loyalty of millions. A loyalty amplified when they toy with their mobiles while watching the game. What this does for the consumers is obvious: it lets them share and experience sport in new ways.

What it does for the sports marketer is unimaginable. It opens up a whole new channel – one that was until recently the domain of big boys with big bucks. On the one hand, it allows brands to exponentially increase reach. But, more importantly, it creates an opportunity for them to disrupt and bring new consumer experiences.

Early adopters began with simple ‘logo-stamping’, often relegating the brand to a ‘blind spot’. But it has evolved into something purposeful. Nike and Reebok are building compelling connects between their values and core values of sports they sponsor. Other brands are integrating unique capabilities to further elevate the experience of sport. What we at Infosys did with the ATP World Tour, is an example. The connection-context-relevance triad, powered by technology, is turning sports branding into a hotbed of marketing innovation.

Connecting beyond the live game

Brands used to wonder about extending the passion and the bonhomie that bind fans together. The answer: engagements through a second screen – like the mobile — before, during and even after the game. For instance, allowing consumers to share opinions and fan-chants – from anywhere (including the live event) and anytime - not unlike what they’d do with family and friends. There have been some notable innovations: Formula E’s in-race voting feature - FanBoost - through which fans can directly support their favourite driver by voting for them online to receive an extra boost of speed during a race!

Another interesting example is of how the ATP World Tour finals in London gave tennis fans an adrenalin-rush. Visitors to the O2 Fan Zone immersed themselves in matches by stepping into unique interactive pods - a virtual tennis world - powered jointly by Infosys and Sony. Using headset tracking technology and a physical controller, fans were able to create data-rich, fluid and customisable virtual environments to enjoy the game.

Context beyond what meets the eye

Fans in the stadium can now predict the outcome of a particular move - moments before it is made – adding to their experience of the game. While predictive analytics help players and coaches, tons of data, buried in endless scores tables and unconnected so far, have been unravelled, adding a layer of insights-led cognizance to sports, which were otherwise about sheer physicality, whether it be power, perseverance, agility or elegance.

For the ATP World Tour, our technology (Infosys Information Platform) analysed over 25 years of data, from 85,000+ tennis matches and 13 million data points to make the game more fun. Fans receive in-the-moment insights while players and coaches have access to data-driven pre and post-match analyses that help them understand their own and their opponents’ games better.

Establishing relevance in real-time

SoulAthlete a startup platform that hosts fitness challenges, allows people to train with the world’s top athletes from their homes using a smartphone. By collecting live data from an Olympic athlete in training, they let fans compare their own fitbit-tracked live workout — in real-time! Establishing relevance can sometimes be done with zen-like simplicity. We did it by finding a fit in the natural habitat of millennials: Snapchat. We relayed cool images and video content from matches, coupled with geo-filters.

While all of this is inspiring, your own journey will come from the learning. The first lesson is that sports branding is not just for those with deep pockets. Imagination can go a long way. It is possible to drive both brand meaning and metrics, an opportunity to build brand experience, and influence sales.

But then, it’s only as valuable as the credibility of the association between brand and sport. Brands like P&G, a long-time sponsor of the Olympics, and campaigns like Thank You Mom are great benchmarks. Our own early days exploring sports marketing has given us a glimpse of the potential. We hope to continue the journey, making the sport entertaining and engaging for fans and insightful for players and coaches. How? Well, as McEnroe once said – we will let the racquet do the talking

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